Cuba's Cookin'

Food was delicious and flavorful! We had the ropa vieja, and grilled chicken dishes. My wife had the Cuban Zombie drink and it was delicious. The chicken was tender and juicy. The Ropa Vieja was flavorful but the meat was not as tender. The rice and beans with fried plantain was amazing too. Overall, great food and atmosphere.

Visited Cuba’s Cookin’ on May 10 during a recent trip to Aruba. The experience overall was solid, but not exceptional. The food was average — nothing particularly memorable in flavor or presentation, though it did satisfy the basics. The atmosphere was one of the highlights: lively, colorful, and true to its Cuban theme. The restaurant was clean and well-maintained, creating a comfortable environment for dining. Service stood out as a strong point — staff were professional, attentive, and helpful throughout the meal. Prices were on par with most comparable establishments in the area — not a bargain, but not overpriced either. Overall, Cuba’s Cookin’ is a decent choice if you’re nearby and need a meal in a pinch. It’s not a must-visit, but it delivers a dependable experience. Aruba offers plenty of more memorable dining options, but this place holds its own as a clean, friendly, and average stop.

We stopped in for a snack after renaisannce island and they had tapasitas hour starting at 2:30 PM. We tried the red sangria (not very sweet = perfect in my opinion), mini Cuban sandwich, pork bites and fried calamari. All of it was really tasty! It you like pickles ask for extra pickles in the mini Cuban. We had only one in ours (probably the only "bad" part of our experience). Now its hard for me to give 5 stars for the food when we only had a few appetizers and not a full sit down dinner. With that, I'm sure that their full menu is excellent and lives up to the expectation that I now have of their food. The location is great and we enjoyed the outdoor seating with the amazing Aruban breeze! Service was great too (keep in mind that it was early and they were not busy at all) so that was a plus. We said we would definitely come back when shopping in the downtown area!

We have gone in twice for Tapas and drinks while walking around town. They have good Wi-Fi, cold beer, and a nice breeze blowing through the porch part of the restaurant. The servers are more polite than friendly, and have never offered another beverage when we had an empty one next to us. They also have missed bringing items we have asked for, like hot sauce. We especially like the Plantain Boats and Mini Cuban Sandwich snacks. Their fries are well-cooked and brought out nice and hot. We would eat at Cuba's Cooking again.

We were there for a late lunch snack. We ordered 6 out of there 8 happy hour specials. Portions were rather small but they were tasty enough. Personal recommendation would be the wings, calamari and the plantain boat. Drinks were half price during happy hour too.

Absolutely the worst food I’ve ever had in my life. I got the sampler plate with 3 meats. Ribs were cold, shredded beef was super tough and had no flavor, beans had a funk taste to them. Only thing edible on the plate was the plantains. Drink was nothing but sugar. Service was “ok” asked by 4 different workers to order, after I ordered already. They offered to fix it when they saw I ate nothing and i refused as they would just toss it back in the microwave. My response Thank you for the time to respond, if I enjoyed my drink why was it full when I left? I did finish my water but not the drink. Like I said the service was ok and she did offer to fix the cold ribs which were warm on the top and COLD on the bottom. A clear sign of not fresh food cooked in a microwave. And yes I tipped the server a decent amount even though I left unhappy cause they did nothing wrong, it’s how you run your business with cold microwaved food hoping tourist don’t review that caused my negative review. Bottom line is your food sucks. I know I’m not the only one as the 2 other tables that left when I was there either left behind a ton of food or took full to-go boxes. Most people are to afraid to be honest but I’m not.

We had such promising hope and we came to eat here. When we arrived, only one other table was set, which was a couple of two. We arrived with our entire family and we promptly ordered. At first service was really good. They made sure that we have enough water. We had our menus and we were able to place our orders promptly. It took a little while, but after about eight minutes or seven, our drinks came out. After that, we sat for about an hour before any of our food was ever served. When our food was finally served, only appetizers came out first and that is after an hour waiting. It took about another 25 minutes for the rest of our food to be served and still one person in our party. Their food wasn’t served. Also, the fish that some person in my party received was uncooked, you would think after waiting such a long time that the fish would at least be thoroughly cooked About three other tables were sat after us, and all of these tables received their food before we did. I will say that they were able to comp the fish, but overall it was just a dissatisfying experience. The food was just overall mid the Ropa Vieja felt a little bit old and tough.

Great atmosphere. Delicious food. The beans and rice were phenomenal. Too bad they seemd in a rush to get the food to our table and us out of there. We got the bill automatically with the last round of food. The restaurand wasnt busy and we had explained we wanted to take it slow. The food was great but 4 courses and not even 1 hour and 15 minutes later we had paid and were thanked.